Taking care of business: Why this franchise puts customer service first

Port Macquarie Snap franchisee Caron Dyball is a pioneer for women in the print industry.

It’s twenty-six years since Caron Dyball first opened the doors of her Port Macquarie Snap franchise and a lot has changed in the industry since then. Initially, an offset printing service, Dyball’s Snap franchise has evolved to become a full-service destination that offers everything from offset to digital printing, marketing solutions and web development.

Dyball tells Kochie’s Business Builders (KBB) a career in the industry was always on the cards.

“I’d always had a creative side. As a kid, I was arty – always doing drawing and painting and design work and then I went into printing straight out of school working for SNAP as an offset printer.”

Dyball says this initial grounding in offset printing has kept her in good stead when it comes to telling clients the realities of putting ink to paper.

“A lot of young designers really don’t have any idea of the printing process,” she says. “They don’t understand Pantone colours. They design in RGB. So, it does make it a lot easier. I can manage client expectations and head off any problems before they even get there.”

Since Dyball first joined Snap all those years ago, print has been through a revolution.

“Print has changed so much. What we do now to what we did three years ago to 10 years ago. The technology is constantly changing. We still do offset printing but once digital printing started, it was a whole different ballgame. And now we do other things as well, like websites,” she explains.

Dyball attributes her franchise success to a policy of being 100 percent honest with her clients and says she never oversells or overcommits to a job. “But we do like to over deliver,” she adds happily.

“I think there are too many businesses that take on work and then can’t supply it,” she says.

“One of our biggest things is referral work. We still have clients that have been with us since day one. We always make sure everything is 100 percent correct and if we aren’t happy with quality – it won’t go out the door.”

She believes having a team around you that shares the same vision is vital and says she is fortunate to have a great group of employees.

Snap Port Macquarie is ready to help you grow your business

When Dyball first started her franchise a quarter of a century ago, she says printing was a man’s game.

“There weren’t a lot of female business owners without a male partner,” she recalls. “You’d always get letters and emails that were ‘Dear sir’. That’s less of an issue now. Back when I started, the printing game was very much known as a man’s industry. But it never worried me as my mother was always in business.”

Still, Dyball says she initially felt like she had a lot to prove.

“I suppose you had to really make sure people knew that you knew what you were doing – that you could quote a job and ask the right questions. Now it’s not an issue at all.”

While the men had Rotary and other groups to forge connections, women’s networks were unheard of when Dyball started out – but she soon put that aside by founding her own Business Women’s Network in Port Macquarie 18 years ago. Today she is still a member and her Snap franchise is the group’s print and website partner.

“Until we started the Women’s Business Network – there were no real networks – nothing specifically where business women could connect. Since that time, we have done meetings and events, several mentoring courses. But when I started there wasn’t any of that – you had to hire a life coach if you wanted that kind of mentoring – and who could afford that when they’re starting a business,” she laughs.

“It’s good to give back to the community. I’m much more involved with community these days – and it’s great what you can do in the background to make a difference.”

Meanwhile, life at Snap Port Macquarie continues to run smoothly and Dyball continues to push for innovation.

“We did a revamp not that long ago of the store and anytime you do that it adds energy to the whole team. Plus, we are interviewing for a new team member to free up some time for some of the others, as we are going to move to a nine-day fortnight,” she says. “Flexible working hours is such a big thing now. No-one wants to work nine-to-five anymore.”

The business also continues to evolve. Whilst Dyball says basic printing is less of what they do these days – full-service printing is on the rise and producing brand collateral and logo creation is a staple.

“Having a shopfront where clients can have stock to look at and a graphic designer to go through design elements makes a big difference,” she says. “Although we’re doing a logo design at the moment that is the most horrid thing I have ever seen,” she laughs “but it’s exactly what the client wants, so it’s what they will get!”

Caron Dyball is the owner-operator of Snap Port Macquarie

If you’re looking for a great graphic designer to help develop a new branding identity, eye-catching logo, packaging, or even stickers, contact your local Snap Centre to make it happen.

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Cec is the editor of KBB. She is a multimedia professional with over fifteen years experience as an editor on titles as diverse as SX, Better Pictures, Total Rock, MTV, fasterlouder, mynikonlife and Fantastic Living. She has spent the past four years working as a news journalist covering all the issues that matter in the political, health and LGBTIQ arena. She is the Head of Content at Pinstripe Media and a recent convert to the world of small business.